Chương 82

Thor didn't seem fazed at all when the declaration was made. While the whole hall erupted in celebration. Thor had been loved by everyone present as he was always more approachable than Odin ever was. After returning from Earth, he had become more sunny, happy and humble. Odin had always been stoic and seemed rather angry all the time. But Thor had always been good to the citizens.

"Father." Thor replied while bowing down to his King.

"I am honored." Then Thor smiled.

"But I am not ready. I have much to learn and you have years under you to rule Asgard and the 9 realms." His gaze briefly drifted toward his friends from Midgard and then toward Rei and the others.

"The universe is larger than I believed. Before I sit upon that throne, I wish to understand it." For several moments nobody spoke and some couldn't even believe it, while Rei didn't seem surprised at all. He knew what Thor would be later so it wasn't even a blow to him, not that it mattered. All he cared was for his physique and strength. Odin could only tap his Gungnir on the floor, signifying that he had accepted his response. Frigga came forward and hugged him too.

The rest, though were in huge surprise, his closest friends felt relief because once he became the King it would be hard for them to have the same adventure that they had before. The banquet didn't stop after that and it continued. Kakashi was having the time of his life as he was approached by many men and women for a toast, and he could only refuse at the end. But he would talk with everyone politely and also share some of his stories.

Kakashi too had his own adventures and shared some of tidbits, of course not the death and destruction that followed. As he was doing so, he suddenly felt a snag in his mind. Kakashi's eye brow raised as he turned his head and looked. Odin had been looking a him from his single eye. It wasn't anything hostile but a calm look that one could give someone. Kakashi was surprised a bit by this as he understand what the King meant.

"Sorry guys. I will have to excuse for a minute." Kakashi said.

"Yes.. Yes... Go.." Hogun said as he chugged down another huge mug of beer. Kakashi smiled from under his tight skin mask and stepped away. Soon he found an open balcony that looked over the kingdom. The moon was high up in the horizon and it was much closer than the one in his world. He could even see the spots on it and clear distinct shades that it casted over the golden buildings and himself. He was still trying to digest what he had been witnessing the whole day.

He had woken up today thinking he was going to re-read a Sidney Sheldon book that Rei had gifted him recently. But who would have known, that he would be back to this universe and this place would surprise him more than it was supposed to.

"I hope the hospitality of Asgard is to your liking." Odin showed himself a few minutes after Kakashi had shown up.

"Quite a neat trick you have to tug on my mind." Kakashi said. Odin smiled at the compliment and replied.

"Magic has many forms. Just like your techniques." Kakashi nodded and though he was curious about the magic, he didn't ask Odin. He would conduct his own research later when there was time. Odin rested his hands upon the railing while Kakashi stood beside him, his visible eye calmly surveying the view. Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

"You see that tree?" Odin asked suddenly, pointing toward a massive oak growing near one of the lower terraces.

"Hard to miss."

"It was already ancient when my grandfather was young."

"That's a statement that loses impact when you're thousands of years old." A faint chuckle escaped Odin.

"The tree has survived wars, invasions, and three reconstruction efforts of that district." Odin pointed toward a cluster of buildings nearby.

"Those houses have changed countless times. The tree remains."

"In Konoha, we have trees older than some clans. People forget they're there until they need shade."

"That is often the fate of old things."

"Or old people." Odin laughed a bit hearing that remark. He was old and his death was approaching fast, thus the irony didn't miss him at all.

"I once considered moving the tree," Odin admitted.

"Its roots interfered with construction."

"And?"

"The workers refused." Kakashi raised an eyebrow.

"They claimed Asgard would be less fortunate without it."

"You listened to them?"

"I am old, not foolish."

"Smart workers."

"Indeed." The two stood quietly, watching the ancient tree sway in the cool night breeze while the city glittered beneath the moon. Some things, regardless of the world, endured simply because people chose not to let them go.

"Your left eye." Odin finally broke the silence and said as Kakashi's visible eye narrowed slightly.

"What about it?"

"It is not natural." Kakashi froze for a fraction of a second.

"You can tell?"

"I can feel it. Even from here. It draws upon your strength constantly, like a river siphoning water from a lake." For the first time that evening, Kakashi looked genuinely surprised.

"That's... impressive. Most people never notice."

"I am not most people." Odin had always been prideful and never humbled himself and thus his words only sounded natural.

"Fair enough." Odin studied him for a moment.

"It was not yours originally. Was it?"

"No." Kakashi rested his arms on the railing.

"It was a gift from a friend."

"A friend?" Kakashi nodded.

"I lost my eye during a war. He gave me his before he died." The breeze seemed colder for a moment.

"I see."

"You don't seem surprised."

"No." For the first time, Odin reached up and touched the patch covering his own eye.

"I, too, lost an eye in war." Kakashi couldn't help but look at the golden patch. He didn't expect that they both were "situational brothers". Kakashi couldn't help but chuckle in his own thoughts.

"Funny."

"What is?"

"Most people look at my eye and see a weapon." Odin looked out over the moonlit city.

"And what do you see when you look at mine?"

"A reminder." A faint smile touched Odin's face. His lost eye always reminded him of Loki and a promise to himself that he would bring him up the right way. But it seemed he had failed. He wanted to push him to the Jotunheim throne, and that didn't happen. He instead brought him up as a prince of Asgard and even that he had failed massively. Odin could only sigh and said.

"Then perhaps we understand each other better than I thought." Thus, the two veterans stood together beneath the moon, each carrying a wound that had long since become part of who they were. But Odin wasn't done with it. His entire demeanor suddenly changed as he looked deeply into Kakashi and asked.

"Does your place put all of their students in danger and thrown into hell like the blonde kid?"

"Naruto?" Kakashi was now beyond surprised that this old man could even tell that something was wrong with Naruto and also the fact that this man could equate it to Konoha being behind whatever this old man had sensed from Naruto. Also the fact that this old man cared for a child that wasn't from this world also moved him a bit. But he too needed to be cautious by not revealing too much.

"His father had sealed a huge disaster in his body and it had been like that." Kakashi said.

"Oh! His father must be of the stupid kind to do such thing to his own child." Odin complained. Though he felt there was more to the story he didn't push as it seemed that the topic was a bit of a secret, but the next words of Kakashi surprised him.

"His father had died doing that. Naruto is an orphan and sealing those kinds of disaster normally is followed by deaths." Kakashi said. He speak the truth mixing with a lot of lies. This old man was too powerful and might detect lies, even from him. So it was better to be half truthful and be on the safe. Though Kakashi never felt threatened from the moment Odin asked about the tailed beast inside Naruto, it didn't mean he would just tell an outsider about the greatest secrets of Konoha.

Meanwhile, the words of Kakashi really struck Odin like a truck on his face, well that truck might not do any damage to Odin but the old man would still feel it. He didn't expect the guy was an orphan and his father had left him with such a cursed legacy. Now he was getting more curious about this world, and maybe it was better for Thor to visit once and return with information about the world.